Wounded
by pandorabox82
Summary: When Emily surprises JJ on her doorstep, there's no time to cover up the bruise that Will gave her. Will her wounded heart find rest in Emily's arms? Written to promote the Profiler Choice Awards


JJ tried not to wince as she touched the bruise on her cheek. Will had gotten drunk again the evening before, and this time the fight had gotten out of hand before she knew it. A few tears slipped down her cheeks as she shook her head. In her heart, she knew that he was still fighting the demons that had been awakened with the bank heist.

There was a heavy pounding on the front door, and she gasped, hurriedly covering her cheek with her hand, even though she knew there was no one in the house to see her. The knocking came once more and she moved away from the sink and made her way over to the front door. Peeking through the peephole, she saw Emily standing on the porch and she gasped. There was no time to cover up the bruise, and she knew that her eye would instantly be drawn to it.

Hesitantly, she opened the door and averted her eyes from meeting Emily's. "Jayje!" she cried out as she hugged her tightly. "Clyde let me finally have a vacation. How are you doing?" Emily's words slowed down, and JJ was certain that she had finally noticed the bruise marring her cheek. "Do I need to place someone on a terrorist list? Clyde would look the other way if I did so, you know. He's still happy to have stolen me away from the bureau."

She felt free enough to laugh at the idea Emily had planted in her mind and she shook her head as she led the woman inside. Once the door was closed, Emily pulled her into a tight hug, and JJ let go of the tears she had been holding in. Emily rubbed her back as she led her into the living room, somehow getting them to sit on the couch. It felt so good to cry in her arms, to listen to her whisper in her ear how everything would be okay. "It won't, but thank you for lying to me," she whispered as she pulled away from her friend, looking into her eyes.

"Well, I can still put a bullet between his eyes for you. That would take care of the problem straight away."

JJ sighed as she shook her head, noticing for the first time the light accent that now colored her friend's voice. "I want to leave him. I really do. I just don't know how to do it." She finally met Emily's eye and she saw the same pain she felt reflected there. "What do I do, Emmy? I feel so lost."

Emily's hand reached up and stroked her bruise lightly, a sad smile crossing her face. "You need to talk to a lawyer. We need to get you away from him. I thought that I was just coming to visit, not rescue you."

"I should be strong enough to not need rescuing," she whispered, trying to tear her eyes away from Emily's, to try and focus on something that wouldn't make her feel like she was drowning in emotions. "I should be stronger for Henry."

"Has he seen anything?"

She shook her head, finally pulling Emily close to her so that she wouldn't have to stare at her any longer. "I've kept him from the worst of things, or at least I hope I have. Some of his pictures show that he has internalized some of the fighting. I hate this."

Emily turned her face and kissed her cheek tenderly. The gentle movement felt so right, and she instinctively turned to her, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. "Oh, Jayje, I have to save you from this hell. Please, let me do that for you."

Somehow, JJ knew that she would never take this step alone. She had quickly brushed Spence's concern under the rug, telling him she was fine, and he hadn't pushed back, hadn't prodded her into telling him what was wrong. She didn't know if it was missing Maeve or the fact that he had never really regained his trust in her, but he just took things at face value now. Emily, though, was here, and wasn't going to take the safe answer. "All right, I'll let you take the lead. We could pick Henry up from daycare."

"And I'll take you back to my hotel room. Everything will work out fine in the end, I promise you." Emily kissed her once more, a soft, tender, kiss, and JJ felt loved for the first time in months. "You know, I've had feelings for you for a long time. I don't want that to affect your decision, I want this to be for you."

"It will be. I just needed a swift kick in the ass to get me moving. And if I get to be with you, then that is even better. You feel like home to this wounded heart of mine." She smiled at Emily sadly and stood. "We should probably pack, if Henry and I are going to be staying in your hotel room."

"I'm good at that. Why don't I pack a bag for Henry while you get your stuff together. It will go faster that way."

JJ nodded and held out her hand to Emily, sighing a little as she clasped it tightly. "We're going to have to tell the others, you know. I don't know how they'll react to my leaving Will. I, I was really hoping to be the one relationship that this job didn't touch. And Alex doesn't count, since her husband is always away, too."

"You'll have to tell me more about Alex. She sounds…interesting."

"You have no idea," JJ started as she led Emily over to the staircase. "It's starting to get a little bizarre, actually. She's taken to wearing her hair like Strauss's, and I swear it gets lighter each week. Like Rossi would ever fall for that, he's a profiler, after all."

"Ooh, intriguing. I really need to meet this woman, she sounds like she could be fun to get drunk."

"Stop, right there. If we are going to have a relationship, after the dust of all this settles, you are not allowed to get Alex drunk and sleep with her. All right?"

Emily grinned at her, and it was then that she knew her friend had been goading her, trying to get a rise out of her, and she smiled back, feeling lighter than she had in months. Everything was going to be all right, now. Emily was here.

**NOMINATIONS HAVE STARTED FOR PROFILER'S CHOICE CRIMINAL MINDS FANFIC AWARDS! Calling all CM readers and authors! Join us for the annual Profiler's Choice CM Awards on fanfiction . net! Help us choose the best of the best of the CM stories on this site, and let your voice be heard. Please check out the nomination ballot and rules at the ProfilerChoiceAwards2013 Forum. All rules and information are on the forum. Nominations are due October 31st. All entries with ten or more categories filled out are eligible to win one of two Amazon gift cards!**


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